


The Final Vial

by Gcgraywriter



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Bitch Hannah Abbott, Catacombes, Cemetery, F/M, Hamburg, Hannah Abbott Bashing, M/M, Married Percy/Justin, Mausoleum, Minor Canonical Character(s), Murder, Poison, Prague, Revenge, Unforgivable Curses (Harry Potter), Unhappy Ending, Werewolf Hunters, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-27
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-18 21:54:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29740428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gcgraywriter/pseuds/Gcgraywriter
Summary: A crunch of frozen leaves announced his target’s arrival as heavy but tentative footsteps entered the small clearing where the rows of older graves lay. Even from this distance, he could hear the beast sniffing the air, sensing a trap. Another few steps, and she would be in the snare. He gripped his ash wand, feeling the worn shaft between his fingers as he waited. It wouldn't be long now...Prompt word - Protego
Relationships: Hannah Abbott/Justin Finch-Fletchley, Hannah Abbott/Neville Longbottom, Justin Finch-Fletchley/Percy Weasley
Comments: 5
Kudos: 3
Collections: Midnight Moonrise Fest 2021





	The Final Vial

**Author's Note:**

> If you love Hannah Abbott - maybe don't read any further as this is not a happy place for you... If you hate Hannah as much as I do... this isn't a UHEA fic for you lol

The bitter German air stung his face as he crouched behind the tombstone, the sharp scent of ice, grass and pine needles surrounding him as his muscles groaned in complaint. He was used to it by now. This wasn’t his first hunt, and he couldn’t be distracted, not now. He was so close to catching his quarry, after many demanding months on the road. Hedgerow beds and roadside resting places were usual for him now as he avoided muggle and magical folk alike. Long-forgotten was his upper-class London townhouse and his homely dorm rooms at Hogwarts. 

His stomach cramped slightly, but he ignored it. He couldn’t remember the last time he had truly eaten. These days he was fueled by cold fury and single-minded revenge. He tested the air, ensuring he was downwind- determined that his target wouldn’t sense him this time. That painful night in the Mala Strana, Prague, had caught him off guard. That was months ago now, but painful lessons had been learned, and scars earned as a reminder. He closed his tired eyes for a moment, remembering the sight of copper curls in sunlight and the feeling of running them through his fingers. 

A low warning growl pierced the night, drawing him from his bittersweet memories as the anger flashed through his mind. Suddenly his muscles were silent, and his stomach sated as he poised himself ready to strike. A crunch of frozen leaves announced his target’s arrival as heavy but tentative footsteps entered the small clearing where the rows of older graves lay. Shielded from sight by the ancient marble headstone and a decrepit pine tree, he waited. His eyes closed as he listened intently. 

Even from this distance, he could hear the beast sniffing the air, sensing a trap. Another few steps, and she would be in the snare. He gripped his ash wand, feeling the worn shaft between his fingers as he waited. It wouldn't be long now...

Another tentative step. 

He let out a shuddering breath as he soundlessly pushed his hand into his jacket, gripping the freezing cold vial in his palm. He wasn’t a murderer-well, at least he wouldn’t be again. 

Another step. 

Two more, and he would finally have her. It would soon be over. He almost cried as he felt the cord around his neck, the weight of the talisman hanging between his chest and the vest he wore.

Another step. 

He held his breath now, gripping the ash shaft tightly as he tested his grip. He didn’t dare peek over the stone, just in case he scared her off. Straining his ears, he frowned as he tilted his head to listen. So painfully close. 

SNAP!

He launched himself up, spinning in midair as he pointed his wand to the creature as it howled into the night. It tried to launch itself at him, but he threw up a protego charm. He had learned that from Prague at least. Her launch had been cut short as her ankle remained tethered to the ground by the now glowing blue snare. She tried again as Justin crouched just out of reach. 

He smiled, and he knew it wasn’t a nice smile as he came face to face with Percy’s killer. Tightening his grip on his wand, he shot a stunning spell at the snarling werewolf and then another two when she didn’t collapse immediately. He stared at her as she lay there, her tongue lolling to one side as he approached, wand at the ready just in case. 

He kicked at her head, hard enough to nudge her large muzzle, not that he cared about hurting her, not after everything. With another flick of his wand, ropes appeared from the end, snaking around the elongated paws. He straddled her waist and studied her for a moment before grabbing the muzzle and wedging his thumb between the jaw gums- carefully avoiding the teeth. Ripping the cork from the vial with his teeth, he poured the luminous yellow liquid down the creature’s throat. She swallowed before the long lolling tongue wriggled with discomfort. Shit! She was coming too, much quicker than the others had. 

He flicked his wand, stunning her again as she quieted. He would have to wait now, wait for her to wake and for the potion to take effect. He couldn’t stay here with her. They were too exposed and muggles all too eager to step into the crossfire. He climbed off and cast his eyes around again, they were still alone. With a silent spell and a swish of his wand, he was reminded of Hermione Granger in their first year with her feather as the hulking beast lifted from the floor. He had spied a mausoleum on the way into the vast cemetery that would be a perfect place to hide. Trudging through the graveyard, he knew that the beast floated behind him secured and mute. 

He let his mind wander as his feet instinctively travelled the worn down paths. Percy’s copper curls moving in sunlight as they lay in the field behind the Burrow, hiding from the rest of the family. The feeling of the summer breeze rushing over their skin as their lips met. He had been besotted with the Gryffindor prefect since school, and a chance meeting at the ministry years later had sealed their fate when then Gryffindor finally noticed him. They had been married and happy. Justin could barely remember a cross word being spoken or stern look from the reserved man, only quiet and almost meek tenderness. But then she had appeared... Hannah!

She had arrived on their doorstep, soaked to the bone and shaking. An act of pity and kindness had allowed her into their home without thought to the phase of the moon. Suddenly, as the clouds shifted and moonlight flooded the sitting room, she began to scream - the change being upon her.

He had wondered, over the time since, whether it had been her first transformation or last, but regardless, she had to have known the consequences of her actions. She could not be innocent! He refused to believe any lie to the contrary, especially when it ruined his life. 

Her body had shuddered and stretched as muscles and sinew snapped and rethreaded, weaving together around snapped and reformed bones, longer than any human. Their tiny living room became tight as she filled the space leaving slime and hair on their furniture from her transformation. 

He had been fooled before into thinking he had found her and had killed someone innocent-a mistake he vowed never to make again. He moved down the thick stone steps as the wolf moved behind him. He noted that her fur was starting to recede as he rested against the stone wall of the catacombs beneath. He wondered how he would feel when Percy’s life was avenged?

His minded wandered back to the night of the attack. Motionlessly, they had stood staring at her, hoping that she wouldn’t notice them as she came too. But her muzzle wrinkled as she scented the air, and before her eyes had the chance to focus, she was airborne. The rest happened in black and white in a mix of slow-motion clarity and blurred light-speed. Percy was suddenly on the ground, and she was on top of him, worrying at him with her teeth. Blood was everywhere. He knew the red had been bright like a newly minted penny, but all he could remember was a tarry black memory as his sweet husband faded away. 

She had turned to him next-her teeth, nearly amputating his wand arm before she howled and disappeared into the night. Justin had often asked himself why she hadn’t finished him off? Why had she left him bleeding and heartbroken as Percy convulsed next to him? He would ask her when he got the chance before he finally avenged his beloved Gryffindor. 

Her matted and dirty blonde hair was obvious now as almost all the fur had shed, and her bones had slowly shrunk back to normal. Justin had ensured that the bindings would shrink with her, not that he thought he would be overpowered by the wandless bitch. 

Finally, she rolled her head, looking around the pitch-black room. It should have been impossible to see, but he could see as clearly as a summer’s afternoon as by the light of the full moon that lit the sky. And his night vision was so much better now. 

He watched, drawing out the knife from its harness. He’d learned the hard way that the Avada Kedavra curse wasn’t very effective on werewolves. The heart needed to be cut out with hardened steel. The girl cried out, the wolfish whimper turning into a very human sob. He felt his heart sink, the way it was meant to at the thought of killing something. 

“Where am I?” she croaked, her voice fitting the crusty remains of the tome. 

“Hamberg,” he whispered

“Who are you?”

“Do you not remember me, Hannah? We only shared a common room for eight years,”

“Justin?” Her eyes seemed to light up in relief. She had no right to look at him like that. “Oh, thank Merlin. Can you let me go? I’m freezing, and I’m naked,” she chuckled, and the noise grated on him like teeth on tinfoil. He ground his teeth together and made no move to help her. “Justin?”

“Why were you at our house that night, Hannah?” 

“What? When?”

He flicked his wand and cast a crucial, feeling the need to hurt her. She screamed and writhed as much as the bindings would let her. He let her scream for the length of a breath before stopping. She panted and coughed as tears dribbled down her cheeks. 

“What the fuck?” She whispered. “Justin?”

“What the fuck, Hannah?” He whispered back. The room was silent once again except for her panicked panting. “You stole my whole world from me that night. In a handful of moments, he was gone, and I was… changed. What the fuck, Hannah! Why?”

“I…” She started, “I wanted you,” She said hesitantly. “He didn’t deserve you!”

“You fucking what?” He breathed. That cold fury that had kept him going now scorched his insides. 

“He wasn’t good for you. He never knew you like I did,” She tried to crane her neck to look at him. 

He stood now. He had vague recollections of a clumsy kiss at the Yule ball at school, but there had never been anything more between them. This revelation was a blow. Perhaps her meteoric breakup with Longbottom had unbalanced her completely. He closed his eyes, remembering his darling Percy with his freckle-covered skin and deep blue eyes. The tender smile and the gentle glances. The soft touches and loving moans in the sanctuary of their bedroom. The fury filled him like a blinding white light, and for a moment, he wondered whether this was what dying felt like. 

“You massacred my soulmate and infected me with your… your sickness… so we could be together?” 

“We were so good together. Before that, Weasley got in our way! We could be again! Let me show you! No one can love you like I can!”

He contemplated his options. His plan had always been to kill Hannah -to carve out her heart the way she had, his. But now, he knew that his vengeance would never be sated with that. He cast his wolfish eyes around the room as he fingered the amulet around his neck, the only thing keeping him in his human skin. It didn’t look like anyone had been down here in a century or more as the dust lay undisturbed on the steps except for his own. 

A plan formed in his head, and he smiled, the perfect plan, the perfect revenge. 

“Alright, Hannah. We can spend the rest of our lives together.” He flicked his wand, casting a silencing charm around them as well as a few other darker incantations he had picked up here and there on his travels. 

“Really? Do you really mean it?” she asked excitedly. 

“I really do. We are going to live out the rest of our lives together,” Justin fingered the cork in another vial. The final vial. He had saved this for when he finally meted out justice. Now that he was there, his reason for living was nearing the end. He sagged down against the wall as he looked at the monochrome liquid in the tiny bottle. He pulled out the cork and knocked it back, feeling the spicey taste sting the back of his throat. 

It was done, now to wait.

“What was that? Justin?” 

“I’ve just sealed our fate…Darling.” He sat, feeling the cold start in his extremities. 

“What have you done? Justin? Let me go!”

“I’ve sealed us in. We’ll spend the rest of my life together, and then you’ll be left in here to rot. Naked, cold and alone.”

“What? No! Justin! You can’t do this!”

“It’s too late now, You don’t have a wand, and neither do I,” The sound of his ash wand splintering in the black seemed to push her over the edge as she started to thrash and curse. 

“It’s no good panicking, even if the poison I just swallowed was a dud. I couldn’t get us out of this if I tried. And no one will hear us. We are going to die down here. And you have all the time in the world to think about what you’ve done.”

She started to sob, but he was past caring as the cold began to spread through the rest of him. 

“What’s wrong, darling? I thought that you wanted to spend the rest of our lives together?” He chuckled as his lungs struggled to draw in a breath. 

“I would have loved you better than him.”

“Maybe, but I would never have loved you. You were never anything to me, except someone that I use to know,”

Her howl was that last thing he heard as the cold leeched away his life. He wondered whether he would see Percy on the other side as he dreamt of copper curls and shafts of sunlight in the meadow behind the Burrow.


End file.
